Road Signs Could Be Ditched And Beamed Straight To Your Car

Highways England are testing the technology now.

Highways England are reportedly trialling an innovative new system where instead of using physical road signs, all the traffic information is beamed straight to your car.

The technology works using the next generation of phone signals known as 5G and would allow cars to be given the latest speed limits, accident warnings and the latest traffic information.

Physical road signs might be vital, but according to Auto Express, Highways England believes that this new system could make the roads safer to use,

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Many modern cars now have digital dashboards and touchscreens and can be updated with live information at a moments notice.

Many modern cars already use primitive versions of this technology to pull through the latest speed limits whether it’s beamed to the car or recognised by the car’s sign-recognition cameras.

The trial will take place from 2018 all the way through to December 2025 on the A2 and M2 on the way to Dover.

Sadly the public won’t be able to take advantage of the technology, instead specially equipped vehicles will be travelling up and down the motorway testing it for accuracy, reliability and more.

In much the same way that fibre optic broadband is considered the next generation of internet speeds, 5G will soon replace 4G as the future of mobile networks.

With companies like EE working on the infrastructure and handset manufacturers like LG and Samsung working on 5G smartphones the technology might not be as far off as 2025.

Cars however have a habit of moving at a much slower pace than smartphones, so while Highways England might be testing a 5G connected car now it’s unlikely we’ll see them tearing down road signs any time soon.

That being said, if the trial is a success and the advent of self-driving cars it’s not a future that can be completely ruled out.